


Birds of a Feather (go to hell together)

by orphan_account



Series: Arrow Adventures [5]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arrow - Freeform, BAMF Laurel Lance, Canon-Typical Violence, Constantine flirts, Episode: s04e05 Haunted, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Laurel glares, Lazarus Pit, Past Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen, Protective Oliver, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, and what happens after, background Oliver/Felicity, limbo?, mild Constantine/Laurel, worried Thea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-24 13:26:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6155121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Constantine reunites with Oliver, and meets his rather interesting compatriots. One particular bird catches his attention.</p><p>OR the explanation for why Oliver and Laurel are suited up while saving Sara's soul that got surprisingly long and bogged down in other stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birds of a Feather (go to hell together)

**Author's Note:**

> So i started this right after this episode aired, and it took me awhile to perfect it. With each re-write it got more character-y and less explanation about the limbo/soul thing but that's still there.
> 
> Could be considered a prequel to 'Crying Help' but both are able to be read without having read the other.
> 
> Edit: Since someone mentioned it, I'll put a warning here i guess? This is NOT an O/F centric fic, it's mostly in the background. This is really more a... outside view of the team via Constantine and the conclusions he draws are drawn from incomplete information. 
> 
> Enjoy!

John Constantine wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to find when Oliver called him. It definitely wasn't this. 

 

A high-tech hidden batcave-esqe place under Oliver's mayoral campaign office. And boy was that a sentence he'd never thought he'd have cause to think.

 

"So this is our HQ." Oliver said as they stepped off the elevator.

 

"Lair. We call it a lair." A blonde woman corrected as she sashayed up to them.

 

This must be the woman Oliver was currently infatuated with. Especially when judging by the besotted look he was sending her.

 

The kiss she gave Oliver confirmed it. Constantine resisted the urge to gag at their easy display of affection.

 

She thrust her hand out to him after extracting herself from Oliver's arms.

 

"I'm Felicity. You must Oliver's most recent friend from the past who's popped up just in time to save the day."

 

Constantine shook her hand, looking at Oliver in askance.

 

He rubbed the back of his head, not quite meeting his eyes. "It's a long story."

 

"One we don't have time for." Felicity said, interrupting Oliver before he could even start.

 

Constantine shrugged. "You said something about a resurrection?"

 

"No," Oliver said as he lead them further into the lair, "That parts been taken care of by her sister. We need your help getting her soul back."

 

He pulled back a partition showing them into what appeared to be a medical center.

 

Constantine appraised the room, immediately zeroing in on the two women in the middle.

 

Who were also blonde. Oliver really seemed to surround himself with beautiful blonde women.

 

One glance told him who he was here to help. Even without the obvious clue of her position as the one in the hospital bed. He'd have known. Even if she'd been walking and talking, he'd have known.

 

There was just something off about her. Something was missing.

 

The other slightly older blonde was clutching at her hand. She looked like she was about to vibrate out of her skin she was so tense.

 

"This is Sara Lance, and her older sister Laurel." Oliver introduced them, "Laurel this is the old friend I mentioned, Constantine. He's here to help."

 

Laurel stood up, without releasing Sara's hand, and mustered a smile.

 

She offered her free hand, and Constantine grasped it. He gave her what he knew was an outrageously flirty look.

 

If she could drag up the energy to smile at him and engage in pleasantries, flirting with her was the least he could do. Lighten the tension, as it were.

 

He miscalculated.

 

After her initial flush she narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious.

 

He could see her hackles rising, her walls coming up. Was this woman so rarely flirted with that she was immediately wary as soon as someone so much as winked at her? That was an injustice Constantine was going to soon correct.

 

He turned their hands over so it was less of a hand shake and more of a clasp, his thumb rubbing across her knuckles.

 

"You, lovely, can call me John."

 

Her expression shifted from just suspicious to an outright scowl.

 

She tugged her hand out of his grip. "We already have a John around here so I'm going to stick to Constantine."

 

Before he could argue the point, Oliver cleared his throat.

 

Constantine met the Archer's even gaze, and couldn't help but smile a bit wider.

 

Oliver was adorable when he was being protective. Beside him Felicity too glared, not seeming to like him anymore. 

 

"Do you think you can help?" Oliver asked, his voice possessing a hard edge that wasn't there before.

 

Constantine tilted his head, turning his gaze to the injured bird. Mentally he went through the potential options. Restoring a soul was tricky business, and not easy on those involved.

 

He glanced back at Laurel, considering.

 

For what he had in mind to work he'd need two very stubborn people. Oliver was an obvious choice, so that just left the second birdie.

 

From what little Oliver had told him, she had already gone to great lengths to get Sara this far. When most sane humans would have mourned and moved on due to their basic survivor instincts. He was always intrigued when he came across people who seemed to not possess that basic instinct. That drive to put yourself above all others when it came down to life or death.

 

If she truly was one of those who could put a loved one above that? Well, she was at least as stubborn as Oliver, if not more.

 

"I think I can. But I'll need a few things first."

 

When he looked towards Felicity she scoffed, affronted that he'd singled her out for the job.

 

He refrained from mentioning why he had. Oliver's eyes had flicked to her rather tellingly.

 

She sighed when he continued just to look at her.

 

"What do you need?" She asked, caving to the inevitable.

 

He fished in his pocket for the notepad and pen he kept there, and scrawled out the list.

 

She took it from him, and after one last concerned glance at the room, departed.

 

Laurel retook her seat by her sister, content to watch her now that she deemed the conversation over.

 

But Constantine wasn't done yet.

 

He clapped his hands together, and turned to Oliver expectantly.

 

"I presume I'll be fed for my services?"

 

Oliver crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure, let's move to the conference room and I'll get Thea and Digg to pick up takeout on their way over."

 

Constantine glanced back at Laurel. She hadn't looked up from her sister during the exchange.

 

"Laurel? Join us?" He asked, turning down the charm a bit. Didn't want to put her off any more than he already had.

 

She glanced up, surprised to be included. "I wouldn't want to-"

 

"Impose? You wouldn't, in fact I'd appreciate a counter balance to sir-broods-a lot over here."

 

"-leave Sara." She finished with an amused expression.

 

From the doorway Oliver choked on his own spit.

 

But Constantine could roll with the punches. He grabbed the chair that was by the wall and moved to sit on the other side of the bed.

 

"Order something that we can eat bedside would you Oliver? I'd like to get to know the beautiful Lance ladies a little better."

 

The two vigilantes stared at him before exchanging a look that broadcasted their confusion.  'What the hell?'

 

Constantine got comfortable.

* * *

 By the time Felicity had tracked down what he needed the rest of the team plus Quentin Lance had arrived.

 

Constantine was suddenly feeling a little crowded. He made space for himself away from the ever increasing group of people.

 

These people who loved the Lance sisters enough to get together and give magic a try. He could see the skepticism hiding behind their optimism, the doubt behind their smiles.

 

But still, they were here.

 

Felicity broke his reverie, shoving a peacock feather in his face.

 

"What's this for?" She asked, not bothering to hide her incredulity.

 

He smirked, lifting it off her and using it to scratch the itch that had been driving him insane.

 

Her chagrined expression made the extra hassle worth it.

 

Oliver growled, as impatient as he remembered. "Constantine."

 

"Right." He said handing the feather back to Felicity who pulled a face at him. But he was already moving to stand at the head of the diagram that they'd laid a heavily sedated Sara Lance out on. "I'll need you and the pretty bird to stand on either side."

 

There was a beat of silence, Oliver turning to look at Laurel who was hesitating.

 

Oliver offered her his hand, "Trust me?"

 

He could see the female vigilante steel herself.

 

"Always and forever." She intoned, linking their hands with a telltale tremble.

 

Instincts led the pair to stand on either side of Sara, clasping hands over her.

 

Then they looked at him. Expectant.

 

He cleared his throat and got started.

 

* * *

After the initial moment of disorientation Constantine opened his eyes and looked around.

 

He didn't recognize it but judging by the looks on their faces, Laurel and Oliver did. The stonework surrounding them looked ancient and the air was heavy with history. 

 

Speaking of Laurel and Oliver... He was surprised to see they were no longer wearing their civilian clothes. Instead they were wearing their respective vigilante get ups. 

 

He tilted his head, because that made a twisted kind of sense.

 

In this place between life and death a person couldn't hide anything. Here they couldn't lie. They couldn't be anything other than the truest representation of their selves. Their outsides now reflected their insides, their souls. 

 

That who they were down to their bones was Green Arrow and Black Canary...was intriguing. And in a strange way - heartening.

 

Even a cynic like him could see some hope in that.

 

"Laurel!" Someone who could only be Sara screamed, and he was too late to stop Laurel, no Black Canary, from running off. With Green Arrow predictably chasing after her.

 

He was getting too old for this.

 

* * *

Meanwhile back on the side of the living Thea paced in a loose circle around the trio of frozen figures.

 

"You're not helping." Captain Lance grumbled at her.

 

After her initial flash of guilt, it was his daughter's soul hanging in the balance, she continued pacing.

 

That was her big brother and sister risking their own souls after all. While she only had blood relations with one, she claimed both.

 

They were hers. If pacing kept her calm. Kept her from staring at their frozen figures, from staring at their joined hands... by God she'd keep pacing.

 

"Thea..." Diggle started but trailed off just as quickly.

 

In the months it had been just him, her and Laurel defending the city he'd learned some things. Including how to recognize what it looked like when she dug her heels in.

 

He knew better than to get in her way when she got like this.

 

After her next circuit she finally glanced at Felicity. Her brother's girlfriend was standing just behind Oliver wringing her hands. Thea felt a sudden rush of affection for the blonde. Felicity was much more used to watching Oliver risk his life over a video feed, where she could at least affect the outcome remotely. To have to watch him do it right in front of her, and not be able to do anything, no matter how small? It must be torture for the CEO. 

 

Felicity looked like she was doing everything she could not to reach out and touch him.

 

Thea turned away lest she be tempted to touch too. Something inside her told her that would be a bad idea.

 

So she continued pacing. Felicity continued wringing her hands. Diggle continued watching them, and Quentin moved closer to his girls.

 

And more importantly, the three figures remained still as statues. They were locked in a battle they couldn't help them with.

 

They could only watch over their bodies and hope for the best.

 

* * *

Hours after they'd emerged from limbo with a fourth soul, victorious, Constantine found his way to the roof.

 

Now that he was alone he lit a cigarette and looked out over the city.

 

Star City. It was an awe-inspiring sight from here.

 

Pity it was Darhk's newest stomping ground.

 

Behind him the door slammed open.

 

He turned to watch Laurel as she kicked the door shut behind her with a reverberating bang.

 

Without seeing him she stumbled down to her knees, head hanging low. Her shoulders heaved with restrained emotions. 

 

Frowning he held perfectly still. Hoping the scene would make sense of itself.

 

Her hands came up to clutch at her upper arms with bruising force, turning her knuckles white. It was a rather sad parody of hugging herself. Her entire frame wracked itself with shivers as she knelt there. Trying to hold the breaking pieces together by sheer force of will.

 

Constantine had enough. He dropped his cigarette, snuffing it out with the heel of his boot, and moved to crouch in front of her.

 

"Laurel? Alright, darling?"

 

She didn't acknowledge his presence other than to clench her hands a little tighter. He winced on her behalf, knowing she had to be hurting herself.

 

After a moment of indecision he laid a hand over one of hers.

 

That got her to look up at him through strands of her ash blonde hair.

 

He crooked a smile at her, knowing it was by no means reassuring. At worst it was a grimace at best it was a commiserating twitch of the lips. But it was all he could manage on short notice.

 

"Squeeze my hand."

 

She blinked at him, not understanding

 

Determined, he gripped her fingers, attempting to detangle them from her jacket and arm.

 

Still confused, she let him.

 

He linked their finger together. "Squeeze my hand until it doesn't hurt so much. I can take it."

 

Slowly she did as he asked, increasing the pressure in a silent test.

 

He didn't let himself flinch from the painful grip and used his free hand to brush some of her hair over her shoulder. He did this while watching her other hand loosen its punishing grip as she focused on the one in his hand.

 

"There," he said once he got a look at her face, "isn't that better?"

 

Her mouth twisted in an emotion he didn't recognize. "I don't need your pity."

 

"Pity? How is this- ahhh." He had a flash of insight. Her wariness at his flirting, and now at a show of kindness.

 

He shifted into a more comfortable position, sitting cross-legged on the cement. Taking a moment to consider what to say next. "This isn't pity Laurel. This is what having an iota of human compassion looks like."

 

Her wariness eased up some at that, enough for her copy his position.

 

Their knees brushed together and her grip on his hand eased until it wasn't so painful.

 

He let her have a few moments to steady her breathing and to stop shaking. "Do you want to talk about it?"

 

She shook her head in denial.

 

"Okay. Shouldn't you be with your sis?"

 

Judging by her wince that wasn't a safe topic either.

 

She did answer him, though. "My dad insisted on taking her to the hospital to get checked out. There's a discreet doc there he knows. I'm supposed to meet them at my place after."

 

He nodded.

 

"I just needed... A moment first."

 

"You don't owe me any explanations, Lovely."

 

She half smiled. "What's with the pet names?"

 

"What's with the panic attack?" He parried, wincing right after. Knowing he'd been too sharp.

 

But she must have regained her balance, her equilibrium, because she let it go with only a dark look. 

 

They fell into a comfortable silence.

 

"She'll never forgive me." She blurted out of nowhere.

 

"Who?"

 

"Sara," she said like it should have been obvious. "She worked so hard to wash the blood off her hands, and now because of me she has more. Because I couldn't live without her."

 

He shifted his grip on her hand to run his thumb over the back in reassuring circles.

 

Other than that he made no attempt to stem the tide, he let her get it out.

 

"And I got Thea injured. Which I'll never forgive myself for. I just... made a mess of things."

 

She trailed off, her eyes glistening with the tears she refused to let fall.

 

"They'll all forgive you Laurel, if they haven't already." He tried to comfort her, feeling woefully unprepared for this.

 

He hadn't signed up for this when he agreed to help Oliver. And yet, he didn't want to leave her side.

 

"How do you know?"

 

"Because if I, the guy who only met you today, can tell you never meant to hurt anyone then they have to know it too." He said, leaving no room for further questions in his tone.

 

Which she, of course, ignored.

 

"But why?"

 

He narrowed his gaze at her, "Did you turn into a child while I wasn't looking?"

 

"Don't want to flirt with a child?" She sniped.

 

He smiled, happy to see some of the fire he knew must be under there somewhere flare back to life.

 

"Not particularly, no. And because they love you."

 

She subsided, looking past him to the cityscape he'd been admiring before. "I love them," she said, "But I love my city too, and I put all of them at risk for my own needs."

 

"We all make mistakes, and we learn from them." He got to his feet, using their joined hand to tug her up with him. "Now you know better. Next time you're messing with magic, call me."

 

He slipped one of his cards into her jacket pocket.

 

"Now," he squeezed her hand, "Ready to go back down?"

 

"Just one more minute. And Constantine? Thanks."

* * *

Constantine wasn't surprised to find the Queen siblings waiting for them when they got off the elevator.

 

Oliver did better at hiding his concern than his sister.

 

As soon as the doors slid shut behind them Thea moved forward, sliding under Laurel's arms to hug her.

 

Laurel hugged her back, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm okay, Speedy."

 

They separated, Laurel standing a little taller under the younger woman's gaze.

 

Constantine looked to Oliver, watching the way he eyed Laurel. As if he could sense the bruises up and down her arms, the ones she'd inflicted because she'd had to hold herself together.

 

He couldn't quite help glaring at the stubborn Archer, because he should have known.

 

If John had seen it within hours of knowing her, Oliver had no excuse.

 

"How are you?" Oliver asked, breaking Constantine out of his irritation.

 

Better late than never he supposed.

 

Laurel, more graceful than he, reached out to rub Oliver's bicep.

 

"I'm good now that Sara's okay. Thanks to you."

 

"Not just me." He reminded her, giving first her and then Constantine a meaningful look.

 

Beside them Thea glowed with pride in her brother.

 

Laurel nodded. With every moment they stood there her exhaustion became more visible. Without the pain and adrenaline to fuel her, her weariness won out. Her shoulders sagged, her eyelids fluttered and she swayed on the spot.

 

Constantine steadied her with a hand to her elbow.

 

She shuffled closer and leaned into him, tucking her head under his chin. In that moment she reminded him strongly of a nature documentary. He'd watched it in his motel room the other day.

 

Even dead on her feet, her move had all the lupine grace of the female wolf who tucked in close to her mate. Guarding his jugular in a move that appeared more affectionate than anything else. When it was everything but that.

 

Constantine glanced down at the top of her head, bewildered at the twist in his chest.

 

Thea made a small noise, making him shift his attention away from the exhausted Canary.

 

He looked up, catching not just Thea's pleased expression but Oliver's constipated one.

 

Constantine recognized that expression. It was the one Oliver got whenever he was having an emotion he didn't know what to do with.

 

"Well, lovely, you're asleep on your feet." He said to Laurel, "Why don't I drop you at your place on my way out of town?"

 

She nodded into his collar bone, too tired to pull back and agree more eloquently.

 

Constantine looked to Thea. "My car is parked in front of the campaign office, will you help her up there while I say goodbye to your brother?"

 

The little Queen agreed, moving to Laurels side. It only took minimal nudging to get Laurel to move over to Thea. She wrapped an arm around the shorter woman's shoulders.

 

As Thea steered her away, Laurel dug her heels in, looking back at him over her shoulder. "Thanks Johnny."

 

Constantine grimaced, "Johnny? Really?"

 

"Turnabouts fair play." She tossed back, referring to the numerous nicknames he'd used on her. Thea tugged her back onto the elevator before he could reply.

 

Once the two ladies disappeared, he and Oliver stared at each other.

 

"So you and Laurel seem to get along." The mayoral candidate observed.

 

He shrugged, "Is that so surprising?"

 

Taking no little in delight in how Oliver struggled to answer that, he shoved his hands in his pockets.

 

He liked Oliver, and more importantly he trusted him, but the man could be blind sometimes. Especially when it came to the people closest to him.

 

Oliver gave up on trying to find a magnanimous way to answer, shaking his head. "You shouldn't keep her waiting."

 

"She's done enough that for a lifetime," he agreed, a bit meanly.

 

The other man took the high road, offering Constantine his hand.

 

"Thanks for coming, if you ever need anything..."

 

"We're even now." Constantine reminded him.

 

Oliver shrugged, "Even so."

 

"That goes both ways, then."

 

They shook on it.

 

Constantine turned to follow the ladies up the elevator, pausing right as the doors slid open.

 

"Oh, and Oliver? Don't underestimate Darhk, he's a whole other thing."

 

With that warning he stepped on to the elevator.

 

He was eager to get out of the way of Star City and its troubles. But, strangely, less eager to part ways with the woman waiting in his car.

**Author's Note:**

> Like it? Hate it? Let me know, and if you're in a particularly good mood, tell me why!
> 
> P.S. I did promise this, sorry it took so long to get out. Also I don't know why Constantine turned out so...flirty? It just kinda happened. ALSO any subtextual L/O stuff is entirely incidental and purely based off past interactions and a platonic friends ship, okay? I haven't seen the second half of season 4 so this is all based off the version in my head. 
> 
> P.S.S. I've noticed that in a good number of my fics featuring Laurel I find a way to have her called Pretty Bird at least once... idk I really like the nickname I guess?
> 
> Edited: 3/7/16


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